White Midnight Magic
by Nova Mode
Summary: AU. Ichigo apparently doesn't believe in love, Orihime apparently doesn't know how to make love confessions, and their friends think that this is some weird new form of flirting.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: _White Midnight Magic_. Nothing special or relevant about this title. It's just a name of a cupcake from a local bakery I frequent.

**Summary**: Ichigo apparently doesn't believe in love, Orihime apparently doesn't know how to make love confessions, and their friends think that this is some weird new form of flirting. Well Orihime thinks that this at least will make an interesting love story to tell her kids one day.

**Setting**: AU. Normal high school.

**Rating**: K+ – T

**Warnings**: None particularly. Um, unbeta'd?

*I've read plenty of fics where Orihime confesses to Ichigo so I wanted to do one of my own. I took a different route with this and hopefully you enjoy my characterizations.

* * *

White Midnight Magic

* * *

**"After the lunch period is over all students are required to meet at the main entrance of the School, due to the auditorium being renovated―The third study day is now over."**

Today all the students of Karakura High School will be gathered together and so Orihime finds herself at the entrance hall of the school, by the lockers, staring into the west hallway.

"The student council would like to thank the faculty and all the students for the willing cooperation into organizing the school's first ever 'graduation festival'. This is the third day and almost the end of the week. But next week will be final exams, therefore we need all preparations ready by Friday."

She turns around to hear Ishida, speaking with a voice that a true school president should possess as he stares into the crowd with a stern gaze from behind his glasses while giving out instructions to the student body.

"Remember, your group is based on your home room class and each class has tasks assigned to them, with the class representatives acting as the leaders of that group. If you're unsure of where to go or what to do, there will be lists of each class and what their assignment is, that Kuchiki-san is setting up by the school news bulletin board. If you have any further questions regarding that, you may ask Kuchiki-san or any of the members of the council."

Ishida pauses, glancing over at Rukia, who is straining on the tips of her toes to tack the lists onto the board. He shakes his head before facing the students once more.

"I, as your senior class president would like to thank all you once again. Quickly find your groups and you may get started." With that he shuts off the megaphone that Orihime just now notices he has as he makes his way to assist Rukia.

And here she's thinking on how he had seriously wicked vocal ranges and projection skills.

She laughs to herself about her easily distracted nature until the thoughts get pushed out of the picture when the excited chatter of the students rises, figures moving away from her, blending together and forming little clumps from her peripheral vision.

Instead of following along with the rest of the student body she stays rooted in her spot but she is almost carried away by their nonsense dancing their way into her head. She has to kick them out though, no matter how rude it makes her seem because she has an important mission accomplish!

That's right, it's time for some geometry! She begins to concentrate and after a couple of calculations done in her head she shifts her position a few paces forward and one towards the right.

Happy with her mathematics, she smiles and blows a kiss at the mirror from across the school's foyer.

Tatsuki eyes her friend with interest and laughs quietly at her silly antics, head lightly shaking out the long spikes of her growing hair. She goes to stand next to Orihime and follows her best friend's gaze but doesn't see anyone particularly outstanding or interesting amongst the throngs of students around the west hallway entrance.

But spotting a large ten foot mirror—which she vaguely wonders what it could possibly be used for—that other students had previously brought out, she guesses that she doesn't need to.

Rukia is the second to catch the scene in action. She hops away from the rest of the student council and makes her way to her friends. After what she has just witnessed there is no way to stop her curiosity from filling to the brim. She reaches the two girls, taking a quick glance at Orihime who has pink cheeks and goo-goo eyes. She bites back her curiosity a little longer to turn and look up at Tatsuki. Rukia sees that like her, Tatsuki doesn't even bother to conceal the sly smile from her lips and this pushes Rukia to tease in an excitedly hushed whisper. "Sooo who was that for?"

Orihime's smile turns into a grin, and she sing-songs, "nobodyyy!"

Tatsuki scoffs before crossing her arms, "you're a little liar Orihime!" Her accusations and body language make it seem like she is upset but her teasing tone and how her face immediately breaks into a smile afterwards contradict everything else.

While Orihime is distracted by Tatsuki, Rukia flanks her left side. "She's right! Spill before I pinch you!" Despite her words, Rukia pinches Orihime anyways.

Orihime squeals and squirms but she can't stop her giggling. "Okay, okay!" And her smile stretches the widest her friends have ever seen. "It's just for someone I like." She giggles again, biting her lips and going starry-eyed.

Both Rukia and Tatsuki giggle and laugh along with their auburn-haired friend. Understanding completely why Orihime is acting like the lovesick high school girl she actually is.

"It's almost been a month huh?" Tatsuki fails to communicate seriously when Orihime cheerfully nods in agreement.

So Rukia takes a swing. "Does it bother that nothing has happened yet?"

"Ohhh, that's not true..."

"Wait! What do you mean that!?" Silence ensues and being ignored irritates Tatsuki and disintegrates Rukia's patience—

"Hey Orhime!"

"Orhime—Huh?"

Rukia and Tatsuki catch Orihime staring faraway into the mirror again with bright round eyes and a... Flirtatious smile? Hold up! They both quickly squish their cheeks against Orihime's to get a better glimpse of what their pretty friend sees.

And not a moment too soon before the figure disappears into the shadows of the east hallway.

Watching Orihime take off after the figure while leaving her friends behind does not bother neither Tatsuki nor Rukia, in fact it makes them laugh out loud again.

Rukia eventually manages stifling her laughter before waving Tatsuki goodbye, heading back to join the rest of the council.

Where she hopes that no one on the council asks about the sly smile stretching across her lips.

* * *

Ichigo's cheeks lightly burn and his scowl runs deeper.

He stares intensely at the mirror across the school's foyer at certain group of girls.

Or rather a very particular, very peculiar girl of that group.

And even though the lively sounds of students drowned mostly everything around him and despite the distance between him and the girls, he could still hear their laughter, _in his mind_.

Which is the last thing he needs considering how his head is now filled with blown kisses and sweet smiles. Don't forget the bright smiles, the _flirtatious_ smiles—

He grumbles more to himself than his friends about _nonsensical girls_ and he curses geometry while he's at it. How on earth did _she_ figure how to position herself so that they could _both_ see each other through a _mirror_!?

Oh right. Sadly, he forgot that he is dealing with a math whiz, who is one of the top students of their class. But how can he deal with this when she has also figured out a way to imprint her image inside his mind. If he dares to close his eyes all the moments he's spent with her, especially from this past month, begins to replay and repeat nonstop. He can't take it anymore!

He sighs completely to himself. He hates it how it sounds like he's complaining. Those moments with her, and the _alone_ moments, were not bad. They were nice, very nice but could he trust the reason behind them?

The image of Tatsuki and Rukia, of them laughing, _at him_—it blurs and fogs all those other moments further into the recesses of his mind.

He turns away to shove his way out of the crowd. His steps are faster than normal as he walks off to a narrow hallway to escape the small wave of students.

"Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo does not hear the voice calling him as combs his hand quickly through his hair in light frustration. He walks just a tad bit faster but after few more steps he stops by an unfamiliar hand capturing his.

All of his nerves cries to spring into attack!mode but he stops short when he finally registers whose voice that had just called him.

When he turns to greet Inoue, he is left mildly complexed by the absence of her form. That is, until he follows the trail down his arm, spotting the small hand still grasping around his wrist, his eyes climb up her arm and reaches her face.

Or what would be her face if it isn't for the fact that her body's bent forward, her other hand balancing herself on her knee, and her head tilting downward causing her hair to fall all around her.

Her head whips back and miraculously her long hair misses striking his face. The lips that had blown him a kiss are breathing hard and her cheeks are stained pink. Her movements may have been exaggerated but not as much as how he momentarily freaks out in his head over his hand still being encased in hers.

"U-uh Inoue? My hand?" Ichigo lifts up his hand for emphasis and he hopes that she doesn't catch the sudden unexplained nervousness in his tone or the fact that his hands feel like they are going sweat at anytime. Luckily Orihime quickly drops it with a embarrassed smile accompanying a quick apology, "o-oh, sorry."

Now the pink in her cheeks were long gone. Maybe he has mistaken it for an embarrassed blush, when in fact, is just the result of her earlier exertion and following breathlessness.

He is unsure whether or not he feels disappointed.

Ichigo jolts back into reality when he felt two hands grabbing onto his school jacket. He looks down and finds Orihime with the strangest look he has ever seen her make.

A mix of mischief and excitement and... are her eyes sparkling?

"You sneaking off again?" She asks, the excitement in her tone more apparent with each word.

This for some reason makes him feel flustered but to answer her question—and to uphold his cool image—he shrugs and says, "you gonna rat me out to Ishida and Rukia?"

Orihime simply shakes her head before tugging on his sleeve, pulling him into the hallway and away from the crowd. She catches him staring at her quizzically and so she winks.

"Not if you plan on ratting me out for joining you."

* * *

Their white school issued shoes lightly pad down the hallway, languid in their steps but careful in order to not attract attention from possible wandering teachers.

Orihime lets out giggle when she twirls, walks backwards so she could face her favorite orange-haired friend with a little secretive smile that she could no longer hold back.

_Her smiles are dangerous_, he thinks and his point is proven when she suddenly strides off into another hallway on the left side. "Come on," she speaks up softly as she pulls the other by the sleeve of his uniform making him turn in as well.

Ichigo does not object because he already has gotten used to her random quirky behavior. He allows her to hold onto his arm, guiding him down the hall until they reach a set of stairs.

She tugs on his arm again while signaling up the stairs with her head. "Let's go this way."

He doesn't want to say he is suspicious but he can admit that he is curious. "Why?"

"I..." She pauses, first to bite her lip in contemplation before that secretive smiles tugs out her lips once more. "I want to go to the roof to talk to you about something..." Ichigo slightly frowns at Orihime's sudden bashfulness, with her head tilting to one side, letting her bright red cinnamon hair to frame her suddenly light pink cheeks. He sighs.

"Inoue if this is about that Valentine's day prank―"

She pouts before immediately laughing quietly. She takes hold of his hand, stands in front of him, bows respectfully, and then plants a chaste kiss on that hand.

_Just like a true gentleman would_, she thinks and laughs lightly at the idea of her playing the role of the gentleman instead of it being the other way around.

Her lips graze the top of his hand with every word when she says, "don't ever say that. My confession was not a prank Kurosaki-kun." She lifts up her head, gazing into his eyes through her thick eyelashes. The soft brown highlights the gold specks in her eyes, makes it seem brighter, makes it appear like they are glowing somehow.

This paralyzes Ichigo when he realizes on how he just described her eyes.

Orihime cannot help by smile adoringly when she sees a dust of pink on his cheeks and how his hands warm up a couple of degrees.

But she lets go of his hand and climbs the first few steps ahead leaving Ichigo to scowl at the bottom. When she reaches the top she spins around and sees him unmoving and this has her lips bubbling into a pout. But for once since this trek around the school started she speaks with seriousness in her tone, hands of her hips for good measure. "Why don't you take me or my confession seriously?"

"Inoue, I already know that it was a setup so it can hardly be called serious." Ichigo huffs before climbing up the steps after her. Orihime shrugs at his words but he remarks, lips turning down in that similar weary grimace, "I still can't believe how Rukia and Tatsuki could make you keep up with this." He shakes his head at the incredulity of their friends' crazy antics.

"Is that what you believe? Do you have any proof?" She challenges and giggles when he splutters for a comeback. She spins away from him, gives a few more twirls and swirls before she stumbles which causes Ichigo to react by steadying her, catching her elbows and setting her on her feet.

"No more of that." He orders and can't help but smirk, somewhat softly when Orihime responds with a, "hai Kurosaki-taichou!" And a salute.

She marches dutifully ahead but causes Ichigo to slightly jerk when she faces him with quick spin of her head.

"I meant every word." And he is taken aback by the intensity of the seemingly innocent declaration. "My confession was not a prank," she placed her hand over hear as though to emphasize her point, "but like I said beforehand, please give me your answer on White day."

_But White day is only two days away..._

"Yosh! Now let's go to the rooftop!" And Ichigo is once again swept away by Orihime when she loops her arm with his.

And with her acting as the leader, they end up circling (and twirling) the second story three more times before finally heading up to the roof.

* * *

I decided to save the ranting for the end. I centered it to make it seem more important. Did it work?

**Sooo **February was crazy. Between work, school, hospital visits, a car accident (hospital and accident unrelated), I've been so overly stressed and it's seriously bringing me down. Plus I accidently deleted the chapter for HIYA (Heavy in Your Arms) that I was working on. Which completely frustrates me because now I can't seem to write it as nice as I had it before. That's why I decided to break away from it and write something lighthearted to cheer me up!

But I'm really sorry for those who are waiting patiently on HIYA, to reassure you guys, I have already begun rewriting the chapter and it's getting close to completion. I also plan on posting two chapters for HIYA by the end of this month. Although I do want to finish this short fic by the end of this week.

I really hope I have enough time for all of this ^^!

Well... Please ReViEw!

Take care my lovelies~

_Nova_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** White Midnight Magic

**Pairing: **IchiHime

**Rating: **T

**Warnings: **Bumped up rating due to language. Unbeta'd. Seriously I didn't even bother to read over it properly. It's probably a hot mess right now but I'll have to take a look at that later. Let me know if you spot anything!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach.

* * *

_Kurosaki-kun,_

_I can already imagine how you look like when you get this letter from me. But don't be so surprised!_

_All I want is to let you know that I love you._

_._

_._

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**White Midnight Magic**

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

.

"Gah! Seriously how could our class decide to make you one of our class reps?" Tatsuki glowers at a tall redhead, "at this rate we'll be the last class to be done! Heck I'll be surprised if we even manage to finish at all!"

Abarai Renji grits his teeth in annoyance and throws his hands in the air, letting go of the paper that contains a list of tasks for their home room class.

"Fine! Forget this then! I never wanted to be a class rep anyways!"

"Shut up!" Tatsuki sneers and then points out, "you do because it gives you the excuse to hang around Rukia more." She smirks when her statement earns some hoots from the other students.

"Not true!" Renji snaps and a few more snickers are heard from the guys and giggles from the girls, making Renji's cheeks flush in embarrassment. He growls and takes a deep breath to begin a new tirade. "Whatever. What I want to know is where did Inoue go? She's supposed to be a class rep like me so why isn't she here helping us out?!"

Mizuiro, surprisingly, is the one who interrupts Renji's ranting. Easily and flawlessly lying, "I heard she's not feeling well." Tatsuki lets out a snort and is unable to stop the small upturn quirk of her lips.

But Renji fails to notice Tatsuki's reaction as he bends down to pick up the dreadful piece of paper that has been forced upon him. Focusing intently on the sheet he scowls and asks, "what about Ichigo? He's not here either."

Mizuiro briefly pauses his texting but his eyes never leave his screen. "He's... Also not feeling well."

Hearing this Renji grumbles, "well that's just great. But I guess it can't be helped."

It's amazing how dumb Renji can be.

"I only hope that for Inoue's sake, Ichigo doesn't infect her with his stupidity."

And smart.

.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**White Midnight Magic**

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

.

"So this is how it's gonna be, hm?"

Outside the sky is vast and blue, and despite the bright sun shining the air is still chilly, probably due to the late winter breeze. And today, here on the rooftop of Karakura High School stands Kurosaki Ichigo and Inoue Orihime.

"All is fair in war and love." Orihime winks and cracks a smile and she definitely can't help but laugh at the face Ichigo has pulled again because of her confession. He usually has his signature menacing scowl but the ones he gives her are just too cute.

He probably would make an even cuter scowl if she told him that but she holds her tongue from saying it aloud. They should be having a serious conversation, it's not the time to joke around.

Still just imagining his cute moody looks has her lips trembling. She bites her lower lip to contain herself. It takes another moment for her to compose herself and when she looks back up at Ichigo she speaks with a more solemn tone when she asks, "does it really bother you that much?"

How is it that he's been easily reeled back into this conversation? This situation is so familiar to the one when he brought her up here and confronted her about her confession letter a couple of weeks ago.

_"You're probably the type who doesn't like getting letters like these and I'm sorry! I guess it's too late now... Hehe..."_

Ichigo sighs at the memory. Why couldn't she confess like a normal girl?

_"But I..."_

And now he glowers inwardly. But then why did he have to be an idiot and make things more complicated?

_"...Love you."_

"No," he finally admits, more to himself than to her and his eyes cloud over with an emotion Orihime can't see because of his bangs slightly blocking them. He briefly shuts his eyes while taking a deep breath before exhaling another admission. "I know there's more to this."

Orihime arches her eyebrow, more in confusion than in skepticism, "but you called my confession a prank."

With silence for a reply she straightens slightly with a slight frown. "Are you mad?"

He doesn't respond and she hopes that she hasn't made him upset. The pause ensues so Orihime spends it on trying to figure out just what sort of backwards reasoning goes on in Ichigo's head.

She leans in, her hands settling on his shoulders, fingertips dancing along his broad shoulders. "It kinda makes me curious about where you got that idea."

_Her fingers feel nice_, he momentarily thinks, relaxing under the small pressures of her pressing fingers. They feel warm just like the smile she is giving him.

Even with no reaction she smiles— it's small and reassuring. "But you don't need to tell me. And I'll wait until you know what it is that you want."

Ichigo finally speaks, in a soft but deep murmur. "You mean that?"

What he wants... If he knew, they wouldn't be here dancing circles around each other's feelings. Well, she's been more than clear now about her feelings and he knows he's being an ass by stalling and not doing anything. But he can't help it when he's unsure of what to make of all of..._this._

_"I'm sorry... I wanted to avoid giving you trouble but I guess I ended up causing it still..."_

Damn. He really is an ass.

"Aren't you worried?" He suddenly asks and it bothers him how weak his voice sounds. "Of my lack of an answer to your confessions I mean."

They take a breath to absorb the words as they simply stare at each other, trying to understand the intentions in each others' eyes.

Orihime just shrugs her shoulders, nodding along. "I still have hopes but I also have doubts too. Re—"

"If you are worried then why didn't you consider the consequences of how your confessions could have turn out?" He cuts her off unintentionally but something inside him feels antsy and he needs to get it out. "What if it ends with rejection?" He's also not sure why he's asking her all this. Actually, ever since she has confessed, he hasn't been thinking of either rejecting or accepting her confession because he hasn't even been able to sort out his feelings yet.

Somehow his statement brightens her immensely. She begins to laugh, a wholehearted laugh as though it were bred from her very soul. Ichigo only stares, not sure what his reaction should be as he decides among the mess of emotional states that he hasn't been given time to experience.

"Slow down. You didn't let me finish." Her head shakes, hair jostling and messing up the array of red and brown in the process. "I'm not worried about your answer to my confessions."

Orihime leans in again, this time, resting her forehead on Ichigo's chest, right where his heart should be. Unbeknownst to him, a smile graces her lips, and she murmurs right into his heart, "because being able to openly express my love and tell you that I love you is worth any consequence." She glances up with a growing smile, although her eyes are lost somewhere in her own romantic intentions. "And regardless of anything else, I'm just happy to be like this with you."

Something strange stirs within Ichigo. He looks down, his eyes intensely dark and indescribable, and he leans down until their foreheads touch.

Don't forget that crooked smirk when he starts to speak, low and firm. "You know," and his voice rumbles with deep resonance. "You really should consider _all_ the consequences of what you're doing before giving yourself to me."

"Oh?" Is her breathy reply and when she glimpses back up at him there's this look that could make anyone fall for those full pouty lips and round shimmery eyes.

Which is exactly why his win is so short lived. He quickly looks away and straightens up, hoping to hide the embarrassment of his own actions. "Y-Yeah." He answers shakily, rubbing the back of his neck to calm his nerves. "Now c'mon," he calls as he motions towards the door, "it's getting pretty chilly up here and school is almost over. Our friends are probably wondering where we went." _Or what we're doing together alone_, he snidely remarks in his head. Their friends could be the worst at times.

Except Orihime stays put in her spot, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms in defiance. Ichigo rolls his eyes at her childishness but smiles fondly at her silliness.

"Hey I still got till White Day, remember?" He smirks, his confidence returning, and so this time he holds out his hand knowing she would take it. At least he knows that he does enjoy spending time with her.

Especially moments like these, when it seems she shares the same sentiment. She grasps his hand, lacing her fingers through his, beaming a bright smile the entire time, he can't help but return with one of his own, and all the while he ignores the rising temperature of his body especially at the point where both of their hands join.

Watching as she begins to lightly swing their hands, he chuckles, "you're something entirely different, Inoue."

She laughs in response, light and melodic as always. "And you," her pointer finger, the one not encased in Ichigo's, moves up and pokes his cheek, making his eyebrow twitch in amusement. The girl continues on with a carefree smile, "you're one of a kind, Kurosaki-kun."

.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**White Midnight Magic**

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

.

Kuchiki Rukia, as the student council's Vice President, has a job to be a role model for the underclassmen, to employ and abide to proper student conduct, and to provide assistance to wherever and whenever it is needed.

Definitely not to do things like try and get away from idiots like Renji, who only knows how to whine and complain, always asking stupid annoying, incessant questions.

That is something that goes against being a Vice President.

Aside from the fact that Renji can really be an idiot, she left the commotion of setting up up for the school festival to go to the student council's office in search of supplies that Ishida had asked for.

Yes, this is strictly student council business, nothing more. Although if she recalls correctly, Orihime and Ichigo should be wandering somewhere around the halls. It's not allowed without a legitimate reason, but to her, if it came to matters of the heart and love then the reason would always be legitimate.

She soon comes up to a corner as the thoughts continue to cross her mind but when she makes the turn she stumbles upon the notorious pair near the stairs. And now all she wants to do right then and there is laugh at Ichigo's immediate awkwardness from being caught in such a seemingly innocent yet compromising position.

Ichigo's back is leaning against the wall and Orihime is basically draped against him, the space between them only a mere centimeters apart (although neither seem to have mind this factor). They are both looking down: Ichigo staring at Orihime and Orihime at their joined hands.

Rukia hears Orihime laugh quietly while her small hands play around with his larger ones.

But when the two finally spot her Ichigo immediately adds a few more centimeters of distance between himself and Orihime. Now standing military straight in comparison to his previous lax position.

However their hands remain intertwined and he doesn't bother to let go.

Oh how she wants to call them out on their scandalous assuming position. But she decides to keep her mouth shut. Silently waving a greeting instead because she fears she will not be able to contain herself if she dares to open her mouth.

Only Orihime waves back, smile stretching. Rukia smiles back, with a secret that passes between their silent exchange, and then she walks past them without a single glance back.

But Orihime's eyes trail after the little grey skirt until it disappears into another hallway.

"Kuchiki-chan is really pretty, don't you think so?" She suddenly comments with a whisper into Ichigo's collar bone and neck (given their height differences). But her warm breath washes up to his ear so the effect is still the same.

And Ichigo fails miserably at repressing the sudder that runs through him.

"What?" He asks dazedly, still affected by the girl's proximity.

But Orihime who is oblivious to his predicament, steps in closer to him, speaking excitedly again. "Kuchiki-chan is pretty, ne? I think so, don't you?"

He shakes his head exasperatedly, "see? This is what I don't get it. What girl would want the guy she likes to look at other girls!?"

"But I didn't say that." Oddly enough, the girl looks genuinely confused, which leaves Ichigo dumbfounded. Just what goes on in this pretty girl's head?

"I mean what's wrong with thinking another girl is pretty? I think Kuchiki-chan is pretty and it's not as if you like her like _that_, right?" Ichigo, for some reason, could've sworn that Orihime is just doing this to tease him. He never thought she would be the type to do that sort of thing.

Maybe she thinks he has a thing for the other girl or something.

So he says, "no I don't like her like that." And then he sighs in defeat, "but yeah I guess I can admit that Rukia is pretty... But don't tell Renji I said that!" He groans out the last part which makes Orihime giggle.

He really doesn't understand this girl sometimes.

"No worries! Oh but don't you think Abarai-kun is so cute whenever he gets flustered about Kuchiki-chan." And while she giggles at the thought, he finds her statement somehow off putting despite the fact that she said it innocently and probably didn't really mean anything by it.

"Hell no. Why would I think Renjiis cute?" He says just to shake off the nasty thoughts of imagining Orihime and Renji _together_. Hearing her go off into another giggle fit helps distract him from those unseemly thoughts.

No it would never happen. Renji is a buffoon, he obviously likes Rukia, and besides Orihime...

She likes him right?

Ugh, he needs to simply ignore it. He's finally getting over his doubts, he did not need them again. But seriously, how did Renji and Rukia become the main topics of their conversation again? Why mention them and why talk about their supposed attractiveness—why ask about Rukia in the first place?

"Why did you ask me about Rukia?" Shit. Did he just asked that out loud?

Orihime's giggling stops and so does her smiling. She looks down, hiding embarrassed pink cheeks, and her sudden change in expression has Ichigo peering curiously down at her.

It takes her a moment but then she mumbles her answer. "It was a-a... Test..."

...

..._What_?

"A test?"

Instead of her reacting more in embarrassment and nervousness her whole demeanor shifts a complete 180. She beams up at him, her expression so bright it leaves him momentarily disoriented. "Yes and you passed! Congratulations Kurosaki-kun!"

Why should he even be surprised by her response. Of course her reason wouldn't have made sense.

"Inoue..." He starts but he isn't exactly sure just what he wants to say so he growls slightly in frustration, although it is by no means threatening.

Albeit he is somewhat satisfied that despite the fact his reaction wasn't necessarily directed towards her, she still crumbles easily into telling the truth. "Okay... Well don't take this in the wrong way..."

Oh now he knows he's definitely going to take this offensively.

"But I've heard some things... From our friends..."

"Like what?" Of course that would be the case. They are always filling her head with ludicrous ideas about _him._

"Ano... Well in regards to your feelings and—" Orihime abruptly cuts short. For her to say this she needs to _not_ look at him. She fears his reaction to her next statement. "A-and your awareness of other females..."

_Oh I hope he won't be too upset_! She internally wails. "They said things about you being dense and oblivious and...and..."

"And?!" _Our friends better not have lied to her and said I was gay_. He dreads.

"And an idiot!" She eeped before slamming her hands over her mouth. A couple of seconds pass before Orihime throws herself onto Ichigo in an embrace, continuously apologizing. "Oh I'm so sorry Kurosaki-kun, it's not something I believe! It was more of me trying to prove them wrong. I figured that if you could see and admit that other girls like Kuchiki-chan were pretty then you weren't as oblivious as everyone thinks!"

Her rapid speech has Ichigo forgetting all about the rumors that their friends are apparently spreading (really, their friends are the worst sometimes but at least it didn't concern his sexuality) and he also ignores Orihime's nonsensical reasoning. Instead all he wants to do is comfort the girl's obvious distress.

He clamps his hands on her shoulders in an effort to stop her babble-apology and shushes softly, "it's okay." He then wraps his arms around her as well. "I passed the test didn't I?" He jokes and he smiles when he hears her laughing softly.

It's strange because Ichigo is not the type of guy who is good at comforting others in this manner or at any given situation really, but with Orihime he finds it much easier and he can't fathom a reason as to why that is.

Minutes pass but they stay embraced in each other arms; with Orihime's head on Ichigo's chest, focusing on his steady heartbeat while his head on top of hers, focusing on the gentle sway of her hair caused by the wind. Both feel content in the others' warmth, that the chilly air does not seem to affect them.

They stand together in silence for a few moments longer until Orihime speaks up softly, "hey Kurosaki-kun…" Her lips almost pressing against his chest. "Do you want to study together after school?"

"Study?" Ichigo questions, titling his head down so they could see each other eye to eye and he is taken back by how much smaller she actually is compared to him.

"Yeah, study." She restates, nodding her head with a determined stare as she loosens her hold on his shoulder and backs off, but only slightly. "I can help you with math and science and you can help me with lit and history!"

"But don't you get top marks in all subjects?" It is true, she's been in the 2nd and 3rd spot on and off with Kunieda Ryō since freshman year. Only being beaten by Ishida.

"Yes I guess that's true." She laughs, suddenly sounding bashful along with growing pink cheeks. "But I have to study a lot more to fully understand the material. History is not so bad but..." She trails off suddenly and places a finger on her chin, now seemingly lost in her thoughts. Ichigo can only wonder just what she could be possibly pondering about. Especially as she begins to eye him, tilting her head, then staring off to the side before focusing back on him. And he only blinks dumbly when he sees her visibly shake herself out of her reverie. "Anyways," she starts again, her voice sounding less nervous this time, "Kuchiki-chan said you're surprisingly pretty good at those subjects."

Hearing this leaves Ichigo mildly surprised at the mentioned midget's compliment. That is until he notices the insult hidden beneath those words.

And unknowingly Orihime adds on to his plight, "she also said that you're really bad at math so I thought we both could help each other out."

"I'm not bad at math, I just don't like it!" Ichigo barks in defense, feeling the embarrassment slowly creep up in his cheeks. He turns his head away from the girl to glare at the wall across from him. His scowl runs deeper while he grumbles under his breath, "tch, stupid midget."

Not wholeheartedly paying attention he jumps when he hears her speak. "So how about studying together today?" He fumbles a bit as he pushes his irritation of Rukia aside to focus on the girl in front of him. "Y-yeah... that sounds cool." Yes it's cool but his cheeks suddenly feel warmer.

"Promise?" She playfully asks, squeezing his hands.

"Pushy today, aren't you?" He chuckles and cranks his head down to capture an eyeful of big round eyes, sunset hair, and a wide beautiful smile. It's almost unfair how her presence affects him. And he's beginning to suspect that she is somewhat aware of it too because lately he's been seeing more and more of her cute pleading looks that he can never reject to.

Really, whatever game she's manage to drag him into is certaintly unfair with her cheating like this.

Which is probably why he suddenly wants some payback for all the teasing she's been doing since Valentine's day. Yes payback. He purses his lips, furrows his brows as if he actually needs to consider her proposal. Seeing the pout bubbling on her lips makes him want to grin wide in victory but instead his lips form into a small pleased smirk.

"Yeah I promise."

After saying those words he really should've of seen what was coming next. It has the word OBVIOUS written all over it and it's not like he's stupid. No really. He's in the top twenty of his class so he's smarter than what most people assume.

Because the both of them in these past weeks have slowly learned exactly how the other is like and the girl in front of him is hardly the type to not try something like this without intention and great timing. She drops his hand, swiftly springs up on her toes, and kisses his cheek. It lasts for only a second and afterwards she smiles naturally as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

"Great! See you after school to study!" Orihime cooes sweetly and endlessly chipper as she skips down the hall, leaving without him.

And she doesn't even turn back to see the sudden mess she's made of Ichigo.

Red, spluttering, and choking on his own swelling emotions.

.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**White Midnight Magic**

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

.

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_Happy Valentine's Day,_

_Inoue Orihime._

_—and I hope you enjoy the chocolates. I made them myself but I promise you that I followed the recipe exactly! Down to the last character! _(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

* * *

Not including this author's note, this chapter reached 4,000 words.

I usually can't write chapters past 2500. So I'm proud of myself :D

Yes the beginning and end parts were parts of Orihime's confession letter. She has a way with words, doesn't she? There's a reason for that, trust me. Now for this fic I'm thinking it'll be about 4 chapters total. The 4th would be a sort of epilogue. But only if I can get everything I need out in the next one ^^!

**:::**

*******Ohhh-Kay strange request/proposal. So most authors tend to look for betas to read over their fics and help with edits, yeah? Well it's not what I'm asking for (although that would be nice). I need a **confidante. **What's that you ask? A person I can confide in with all my story ideas and plans (for Bleach specifically). They'll tell me what's good and what's lame, help me decide on things, and brainstorm with me. And any ideas I use that are originally my confidante's shall receive credit and be noted in the story. And I'll trust that any of my ideas will not be used without permission as well.

Not a writer and just a reader? That's fine too as long as you can think! 8D But seriously though, my confidante needs to be thoughtful and opinionated. It would be nice if my confidante can read over my story and point out errors but that's not a real big issue with me (I think). Only in terms in seeing if the story flows right or seems choppy, that for me is important.

It's really quite easy and should be fun so apply within!

I'll also post more info on my page later this week.

If you're interested or just curious, PM me*******

**:::**

Anyways thank you for reading!

And please review!

Take care~

_Nova_


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